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OPINIONS
Appleton, Wisconsin June 2017 Volume XXII
Issue VIII Page 5
Should we, as the United
States of America, as the land of
the free and home of the brave,
allow transgender individuals to
use bathrooms that correspond
with their gender identity?
Gender identity, as defined by
the Human Rights Campaign, is
“one’s innermost concept of self
as male, female, a blend of both
or neither – how individuals
perceive themselves and what
they call themselves. One’s gen-
der identity can be the same or
different from their sex assigned
at birth.”
The reason that allowing cer-
tain people to use certain rest-
rooms is even a topic of debate
is because, according to the
National Conference of State
Legislatures, 16 states have
proposed legislation to “restrict
access to multiuser restrooms,
locker rooms, and other sex-
segregated facilities on the basis
of a definition of sex or gender
consistent with sex assigned at
birth or ‘biological sex.’”
Essentially, 16 states (and this
is just in 2017-- other states have
considered “BathroomBills,” as
they have been dubbed, in past
years, 24 in total between 2013
and 2016) have proposed dis-
criminatory legislation based
on cisgender people’s comfort
levels. The term “cisgender”
means that you identify as the
gender you were assigned at
birth. These 16 states have sug-
gested that, with varying nu-
ances, transgender students at
schools must use the bathroom
of the gender they were as-
signed at birth, a single-person
bathroom, a unisex bathroom,
or a faculty bathroom. Usually,
these transgender students do
not even have all of these op-
tions, because, for some rea-
son, a trans girl using the same
bathroom as a cis girl is seen as
a threat by the proposers of this
legislation.
This is interesting because
there have been absolutely zero
documented cases of a trans
person harassing anyone in a
bathroom, but there have been
countless documented cases of
trans people being harassed in
bathrooms (NPR, Mic, the Ad-
vocate). Claims have been made
of sexual predators pretending
to be transgender as an excuse
to harass people in bathrooms,
which is quite an offensive
comparison. Yes, there have
been cases of sexual predators
assaulting people in bathrooms,
but these individuals were not
transgendered individuals--
they were sexual predators.
Thinking that the two are even
comparable is abhorrent. There
have also never been any re-
ported cases of a person “using”
their identity as a trans person to
harass people in their respected
bathroom. Even before the bath-
room bills were proposed, there
were many documented cases
of trans people being harassed
about their bathroom prefer-
ences.
One woman decided that
she would feel much safer if
she brought her gun into a Tar-
get bathroom to protect herself
from trans women, in light of
the store’s declaration during
the spring of last year. Target
announced that it would allow
transgender people to use the
bathroom that corresponds with
their identity. This woman acted
as such, because, as she stated
in an interview with Orlando
Weekly in late April of last
year, her gun “identifies as [her]
bodyguard.” This isn’t only an
incorrect use of the word “iden-
tify;” it’s an attempt to devalue
the word itself. Another woman
protested Target’s decision by
holding a Bible over her head
while marching down the aisles,
declaring that the store was an
unsafe place and urging moth-
ers to “get [their] children out
of this store,” according to an
article by Syracuse, also in the
spring of last year. Because of
these women’s and others’ ac-
tions, over 700,000 people have
pledged to boycott Target stores
as of April 28 of last year, ac-
cording to USA Today. Some
people are more threatened by
transgender people than by gun-
wielding people in bathrooms,
which seems more than a little
backwards. What is more dan-
gerous?Ahuman being who has
to pee or a human being who is
prejudiced and holding a gun?
Why would our government
willingly put legislation in place
that makes an entire group of
people feel unaccepted and
marginalized? This is not the
only case in which this has been
done, but the BathroomBills are
especially prominent in the me-
dia as of late.
Some people argue that they
would be uncomfortable going
into the same bathroom as a
person who is trans, and that’s
just blatant transphobia. There
is no arguing otherwise. If you
are unaccepting of the fact that
yes, a trans woman is really a
woman, and yes, a trans man is
really a man, (and yes, a trans
nonbinary person is a nonbinary
person) then you are in fact dis-
playing transphobia.
In the most extreme cases,
the government is telling people
who they are and what they can
and cannot do in direct relation
to how they identify. In the least
extreme cases, they are asking
for you to out yourself to your
parents if you are a transgender
student in school to get special
permission to be allowed to use
the restroom you identify with.
We don’t have to let this stand.
Students, teachers, employ-
ees, business-owners-- anyone
and everyone can write to their
legislators. Call officials, take
action, participate in elections,
stand up for equality. If there
is one thing you will stand for
in 2017, please let it be equal-
ity. Respect other people and
their identities, respect their re-
ligions, their sexual and roman-
tic orientations, their different
physical and mental abilities, re-
spect their race, their ethnicity--
respect other human beings, and
we are on our way to respecting
the world.
Government condoned discrimination, known as the bathroom bills
Gaming provides individuals with important skill sets
With the approach of summer,
students are looking more and
more to its warm embrace. As
schedules open up, and people
relish their newfound inde-
pendence, the question arises:
“what should I do with all this
time?” Amongst the vacations
and the summer plans, many
will fill their free time with
video games. If you’re a gamer,
you know how infuriating they
can be at times.
The common response to
game rage is “get over it, it’s just
a game,” followed with an ensu-
ing sense of shame in the player
for letting themselves allow an
emotional response from some-
thing as simple and insignificant
as a video game. As a gamer, I
find that this view of “it’s just a
game” is one that is more dam-
aging than beneficial. In this
age of technology, children are
being exposed to an ever ex-
panding world of gadgets and
games. This exposure has begun
at younger ages, and of course,
what comes with technology?
Games.
Now, naturally, children want
to use their newfound iPhone or
shiny new tablet for one thing:
fun! That is why people play
games after all. So why does
this “age of technology” con-
demn players for showing their
frustration? It can be argued that
one cause is as simply put as: ig-
norance.
While games are made as a
leisurely pastime, it has many
benefits for students and chil-
dren that are easy to overlook
through the lens of “it’s just a
game.” While an immediate
thought can be drawn from puz-
zle games and the likes when
looking for beneficial outcomes
of gaming, even games like Call
of Duty can yield positive skills.
Multiplayer games teach chil-
dren immediately that there is
success in teamwork; countless
games are implementing ways
to aid the player’s’ interactions
with each other. It provides an
environment that promotes lead-
ership without giving any seri-
ous consequence. As students
grow intellectually, socially and
physically, skills they learned
while playing “just a game”
could prove pivotal in their
scholarly career. Research has
even been done by the Ameri-
can Psychological Association
showing students gaining posi-
tive social skills just from play-
ing video games.
These games also provide a
healthy and safe place to har-
bor friendly competition. Let’s
face it, school can be very com-
petitive. And while that may be
the case, not everyone wants
to compete on the same field.
While some people have their
grades, or their courts, others
find that gaming is what gets
their blood pumping. Incorpo-
rating split second decisions and
lots of multitasking, the brain is
stimulated in many ways that
nurture growth and learning.
Furthermore, players must learn
to adapt to various situations.
These changes are constantly
being implemented into the ever
shifting “meta” and keep play-
ers on their toes, thinking of so-
lutions around these challenges
to succeed. This skill of adapta-
tion is also extended into puzzle
and strategy games that require
the player to formulate a plan to
succeed.
These games can also create
an interest in history and sci-
ence. Many games are based
around historical events provid-
ing historical information in an
enjoyable and interactive way.
Games like these can foster a
love for science in children and
are more enjoyable than learn-
ing in a classroom setting be-
cause they combine creativity,
logic and fun to showcase these
ideas.
There is a social component
to gaming as well. Some stu-
dents, anyone really, may not
have that many friends in real
life. Weather it’s because of shy-
ness, anxiety or some other lim-
iting situation, games give these
people ways to interact without
fear, or even create entire friend
groups through people met on-
line. Naturally, players want to
perform well for their friends,
and if they fail to do so, it can
cause frustration. With that
also comes a sense of disap-
pointment, in that they did not
play up to what they think their
friends should see. This internal
criticism is only compounded
when an outside source ridicules
a player for showing their frus-
tration. Such negative forces on
students, and players in general,
creates the opposite outcome for
what games at their core should
be: a form of relaxation and fun.
These are just a few exam-
ples, and it leads me to wonder:
with all of the benefits, skills,
and growing experiences found
in gaming, how can it be a bad
thing to find passion in it?
Is it really just a game?
By Skye Iwanski
By Jake Zajkowski
Gaming offers an alternative approach to obtaining academic
and communication skills.
Photo by Jake Zajkowski
Sixteen states considered bathroom bills in 2017, and 24 states
considered bathroom bills between 2013-2016.
Infographic by
Kate Bennett